Google Earth Update Brings 3-D Maps to Apple’s iPad, iPhone

Google Earth on iOS now features 3-D maps and a "Tour Guide" feature that points out landmarks and points of interest.

Google may be getting kicked out of Apple’s iOS Maps app this fall, but make no mistake: Google’s map tech on the iPhone and iPad are still top-notch, and only getting better.

On Thursday, the Google Earth iOS app was updated to add 3-D flyover maps for Rome and a dozen U.S. metropolitan areas, including Boulder, Colorado; Boston; Charlotte, North Carolina; Lawrence, Kansas; the San Francisco Bay Area; Long Beach, Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Cruz, California; Portland, Oregon; Tampa, Florida; and Tucson, Arizona. The update brings to iOS a 3-D overhead view that was previewed in June at a Google Maps event that took place before Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (where Apple announced it was building its own map platform) and Google’s own I/O developer conference.

There is a caveat, however: Not every iOS device will get the 3-D map update. Rather, the 3-D maps will only render on the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2 and the third-generation iPad. While Google Earth on Android has had 3-D maps for quite a while, this update marks the first time that Earth on iOS will feature 3-D maps too, said Peter Birch, a Google Earth product manager.

“This first list of cities is just a start,” Birch told Wired. “We do want to map, in 3-D, the entire world. Obviously modeling the entire world in 3-D is an audacious, and some would say impossible goal, but that’s the goal that we have and that’s what we’re working toward.”

The update also adds, to all iOS devices running iOS 4.3 or newer, a feature called Tour Guide, which lists landmark and historic locations in various cities around the world. Descriptions of locations featured in Tour Guide are pulled from Wikipedia. As of now, Earth has more than 10,000 points of interest and even a few flyover tours built into its Tour Guide feature, Birch said.